Just a bit of background: I treated myself (diet wise) for candida early last year, was pretty successful and then started eating a Paleo diet. That worked fantastically well but in December 2011/January 2012, I overdid it with sweet potatoes, dark chocolate, wine etc. Then got a kidney infection in early January, was on really strong antibiotics and voila – All candida symptoms are back.

I’m back on the diet exactly 2 weeks today and am seeing some improvements already. I’m eating mostly meat and veg, with some nuts as snacks. Have started eating goat yogurt as a probiotic and that’s going well – Apart from yesterday as I had the yogurt before breakfast and then had approx 1 tbsp coconut oil with breakfast. I was so nauseated afterwards, it was awful! That subsided though and I’ve given the yogurt and coconut oil a skip for today. Might hold off on ingesting the coconut oil directly for another few weeks, I cook with it every day so am surely gaining some benefits from that.

Anyway – To my question! How long should I expect this deep hunger to last? I had the hunger even before I started the candida diet, it led me to binge after binge on nuts, dried fruit and dark chocolate 🙁 The hunger can be so intense some days, like this morning, and I only had breakfast approx an hour and a half ago.

What are everyone else’s experiences with candida hunger? How long did yours take to subside? Any tips on curbing the hunger? I can deal with cravings but do have a history of binge eating so once I completely stay away from sugar and carbs, the cravings subside.

Mashanshell wrote: I’m eating mostly meat and veg, with some nuts as snacks. Have started eating goat yogurt as a probiotic

Mashanshell wrote: it led me to binge after binge on nuts, dried fruit and dark chocolate 🙁

Are you still eating these foods? Too much meat (any red meat) will set you back for a number of reasons, and the yoghurt probably has too much sugar unless it’s Greek-style. Have you seen the protocol members on the forum are following? Check Able’s post here if not. There’s an allowed foods list which’ll give you some idea of what to eat and what to avoid.

You’ll want to take a strong probiotic supplement in addition to things like Greek yoghurt, kefir and sauerkraut. This is what will really help restore the balance that the antibiotics indiscriminately destroyed. I don’t know how much longer doctors are going to be allowed to ignorantly give their patients immune deficiencies and GI problems as a “treatment”.

Mashanshell wrote: once I completely stay away from sugar and carbs, the cravings subside.

You pretty much answered your own question here. It took me about three weeks or so before the cravings completely disappeared. I was looking at some chocolates I used to like yesterday, but I couldn’t even imagine eating them. It made my stomach feel a bit uneasy. A few weeks ago I was imagining ravenously chomping them and my stomach seemed to be crying out for them. I think after your body adjusts to a fat-based metabolism, it naturally puts you off carby foods, whereas normally you crave something to quickly boost your blood sugar.

I second Javizys advice. You really need to read the Allowed Foods List and stick to that very carefully. If you’re doing a cleanse/ detox then you will be hungry for a week but once you start stage 1 of the diet there are plenty of things that you can fill up on. Coconut bread, coconut oil, buckwheat/ buckwheat bread, oatbran, kefir/ yoghurt, organic eggs, organic chicken, avocado, tinned & fresh fish… all fill you up if you eat regular meals (I eat 4 meals a day) and have 4 or 5 components to each meal.

If you go back through earlier posts you see people discussing their hunger and how they deal with it.

This last week or so, I haven’t consumed any red meat, I am only eating chicken, turkey and fish. I find that red meat can repeat on me so I think that I may be allergic/intolerant to it, or else I just don’t digest it well. This is the yogurt that I’m eating: http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-47382-St+Helen%27s+Farm+natural+goats+milk+yogurt I don’t think that there are any added sugars etc and I am intolerant to cow’s dairy so cannot have Greek yogurt. Do you think that this yogurt is acceptable? Kefir and sauerkraut are both something I am yet to get my head around. Javizy – I’m actually based in London as well – Can you recommend anywhere that I could buy either kefir or sauerkraut, or should I try to make my own?

I’m not eating dried fruits or dark chocolate anymore. I’m eating a huge amount of veggies, all from the recommended list on this website. The cravings have almost subsided, but I’m constantly struggling with this hunger, like my stomach feels empty an hour or so after I’ve eaten a good meal, with some meat and lots of veggies (mostly cauliflower, broccoli, avocado, spinach and courgette (zucchini).

Lucylu – I didn’t try a detox, I just went directly into the diet. Are there any recipes for coconut bread without using eggs as I’ve got an intolerance to eggs (they upset my stomach and also cause really bad eczema on my face)? I tried buckwheat a week or so ago and had an upset stomach the following day so I may also be intolerant to that. I’m eating about 4 meals per day now as well. I will also cut out the nuts for now, am only eating them every couple of days anyway, and about 10-15 nuts (almonds or pecans) at a time as I can really tend to binge and finish the whole bag if I’m not careful with portion sizes.

Mashanshell wrote: This is the yogurt that I’m eating: http://www.waitrose.com/shop/ProductView-10317-10001-47382-St+Helen%27s+Farm+natural+goats+milk+yogurt I don’t think that there are any added sugars etc and I am intolerant to cow’s dairy so cannot have Greek yogurt. Do you think that this yogurt is acceptable? Kefir and sauerkraut are both something I am yet to get my head around. Javizy – I’m actually based in London as well – Can you recommend anywhere that I could buy either kefir or sauerkraut, or should I try to make my own?

That yoghurt actually has almost 50% less sugar than Greek yoghurt. It’s not organic, but according to the website they’re not fed rubbish or housed in a cramped environment, so it’s unlikely they’re routinely fed antibiotics. If you don’t feel you’re getting any sort of reaction to it, then I don’t see why it’d be a problem.

Kefir can be bought, but it’d probably be made from non-organic cow’s milk, which would probably give you a lot of problems. You can buy grains with starter kits from Kefir Heaven on the 1st of each month. It’s really up to you if you decide to make it. It’d require you to buy a lot of Goat’s milk, which is pretty expensive, and takes a bit of effort, but it’s delicious and contains a massive amount of probiotics.

I know for sure you can find sauerkraut in the Eastern European refrigerated section at Asda. I’m sure you could find it in Polish shops and other supermarkets too. It’s called kapusta in Polish. If you get the jarred kind from the shelf, it probably has no live probiotics remaining.

Mashanshell wrote: I’m not eating dried fruits or dark chocolate anymore. I’m eating a huge amount of veggies, all from the recommended list on this website. The cravings have almost subsided, but I’m constantly struggling with this hunger, like my stomach feels empty an hour or so after I’ve eaten a good meal, with some meat and lots of veggies (mostly cauliflower, broccoli, avocado, spinach and courgette (zucchini).

How much of the fish and poultry are you eating? And how much oil do you use? You need protein and fat for energy since you’re not eating many carbs. Try to get at least 50g or so of protein each day. Use coconut oil generously when cooking and drizzle plenty of extra virgin olive oil on your salads or over cooked veggies. The right kind of fats are what trigger a feeling of satiety after eating. They’re also digested slowly (protein even more so), so they’ll keep you feeling fuller for longer.

Don’t be afraid to snack though. Smaller, more frequent meals stabilise your blood sugar level and take the strain off your digestive system.

It took me 2-4 weeks to get over the hunger problems and then it went away for good at week 6 or so. I do want to state that there is a difference between regular natural hunger needed to live and candida caused hunger (typically food cravings).

One thing that is very filling is to eat teff. This might fill you up enough to not get any hunger. I have a good recipe under the coconut bread post on the recipe part of the forum.

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